1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is a method and apparatus for providing content to consumers through their mobile devices based on the proximity of a consumer's mobile device to a display screen or other media source such as an audio speaker whose location is known to a server, the content being related to the image or video being displayed on the screen or audio signal from a speaker.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Display screens including fixed media displays such as billboards in retail stores, stadiums, homes, amphitheaters, airports or other public and private places have and continue to gain increased popularity since their original introduction as a modern form of a poster, billboard or presentation medium. There are many reasons for their popularity and benefits over traditional media. They are available in different sizes and range extensively in features and capabilities. A simple system might be nothing more than a flat screen television display with a video signal that's received through the screen's integrated source input (Satellite, DVD, CCTV) or through integrated or add-on streaming media players, or even a speaker providing only an audio signal. A more sophisticated system might have a much more advanced array of hardware and software.
In the current marketplace, it is often desirable to provide supplemental forms of advertising and information dissemination at the same point of presence where the signage is seen or audio heard by consumers. Such advertising typically has been in the form of business cards, pamphlets, brochures, coupons registration forms, and similar items available at a nearby location.
In addition to physical materials, the modern version of a business card/brochure has been a web site. Thus, the content being shown on display screens has been designed to present a web site address (URL). This required consumers to see and remember the address until they were able to take the time to visit it at a later point. This presented an issue, as relying on the consumer to remember the website and take the time to visit limits its usefulness. With the wide spread adoption of mobile devices, a new form of business card was developed—that being the QR Code and other similar optical codes that could be photographed using the built in camera on the mobile device. This would allow consumers to photograph the image of the code and then link to the associated website directly.
One of the benefits for display screen programmers is that the format and technology gives the programmer unlimited canvas that can be updated and changed at anytime. The limitation then becomes the amount of time a consumer will see the screen and be able to ingest the content. Therefore any references to supplemental content (e.g. a web site or QR Code) must be able to be easily seen by the consumer and available for a long enough time so that they can utilize it. If the consumer is required to perform a task with the screen, this time must also be accounted for. This presents a major issue for screen programmers when the screen itself will only be seen for a short period of time or where there is a desire to have programming that moves at a faster pace through say a series of short visual ads.
Another limitation of supplemental content linking (e.g., a web site or QR Code) via display screens has been sub-optimal physical limitations. An advertisement with a brand/logo may be easily seen from a distance, from various angles, or in passing. However this does not always work well with consumer flow in public spaces. Furthermore, there are social limits in how far a consumer will go to link to for example a QR Code that requires them to stand out, aim their camera with some level of accuracy and make one or more attempts to scan the QR Code using their mobile device camera. QR Codes become difficult to use because of the required position and re-positioning of the camera to capture the image in as still a manner as possible. Users must be within very close proximity and at the correct angle to the QR Code—within inches if the QR code is small and not presented in a full-screen manner on a larger screen. What was seen as a simple technology that would overcome the requirement of a consumer remembering a web site can be an exercise in frustration. If you add in the fact that the screen content may be changing at all times, the consumer may only have a short amount of time to scan the code before another visual is presented on the screen.
It is often a case of whether the consumer will have the time and inclination to carry out the different tasks to access the related content at that time or whether they will wait until they can do so at their leisure. This limits the use of any in-store or location based related materials such as special offers/coupons, etc.
“Audio fingerprinting” technology has also gained popularity. This technology uses the microphone on the mobile device to sample the audio being heard from a video display screen. It does an analysis and compares the audio sample against a database of known audio files. If it finds a match it is able to know where in an audio-visual presentation that segment was found. While this technology is quite suitable for in-home use and in quieter environments, it is largely impractical for use in public spaces or environments where noise levels are not fixed.
In addition to “Audio Fingerprinting”, there is a secondary audio technology known as “Audio Watermarking”—that is the insertion of an audio signal into an audio-video or audio only presentation in a form that cannot be heard by the human ear, but can be sampled and analyzed by the mobile device microphone.
This technology has most of the limitations of audio fingerprinting also making it impractical in some situations. However, the present invention does discuss its use in very specific ways to enhance but not limit the present technologies.
Programmers of display screen content work with a large range of content including images (brand/logo images, product screens, photos/still advertisements) and video (animated branding/logos, video ads, etc.). They must produce this content in such a way so as to present well on screens of varying sizes. Each of the ads if separate from the previous one must be “marked up” to provide a visual link (QR Code or Web Address/URL) in a manner that can be seen and used by the consumer. For a 30 minute video with sixty 30-second clips, this requires a substantial amount of resource time just to prepare the linking content.
Related content offerings provide no measurements in regards to gathering statistical information on the reach and value of a particular screen without multiplying production time of the video substantially. The content programmers would literally have to create and place different related links/QR Codes/audio-fingerprints for each segment on every different screen. Without this effort, there is no cost-effective way to answer questions such as:
How many people saw the signage or heard the audio?
What percentage of people saw the signage or heard the audio and accepted the supplemental materials?
Which advertisement/media content was more attractive to and beneficial in relaying a message to the consumer based on the number of consumers that accepted it and carried through to a link?
While there are many benefits to using display screens, it is clear that they have some clear limitations. The present invention overcomes many, if not all, of the limitations discussed above and further simplifies the process of linking consumers to content directly related to what they are seeing on a display screen or hearing from an audio speaker at any given moment. In some contexts, the invented technology is useful for display screens in other than public places as well. It does so in a manner that also provides full analytic capabilities on any individual screen's consumer reach/adoption and details based on the content that is displayed at any given moment.